Conventional hitting aids may suspend a ball vertically, such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,683 to Beimel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,132 to Lopatto; U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,582 to Minniear; U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,270 to Daugherty; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,679 to Tell et al. A number of conventional devices may employ pneumatic methods of lifting a ball, such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,131 to Leon; U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,878 to Nickerson et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,876 to Sejnowski.
However, in general, conventional hitting aids may suffer from various deficiencies. For instance, some conventional hitting aids may hold a ball at a stationary position. Other conventional hitting aids may hold or deliver a ball to the same height. As a result, batters may be continuously hitting balls, such as baseballs, at the same location. It is believed that this may hinder batter development. Another nuisance of conventional tees may be that they require manually replacing the ball after each swing. Conventional hitting aids may be structurally lacking or ineffective in other respects as well.